"At every stage in my career, I have worked to create spaces for community input."
-- Karla Griego's website
Charter School Industry campaign flyer on file with the LA City Ethics Commission
(Image by Los Angeles City Ethics Commission) Details DMCA
With Goldberg set to retire at the end of her term, the residents of BD5 are facing another round of change. Four candidates have qualified for the election to replace her. Are any of them capable of filling the very big shoes that she leaves behind?
Graciela Ortiz
Like all of her opponents, Ortiz is employed by the LAUSD. You might think from the picture of her in front of a classroom on her campaign website that she is a teacher, but she is actually a cog in the bureaucracy. Until reportedly being put on leave by the District, she was an administrator with the Pupil Services Department focusing on students who have attendance problems.
There are several allegations made against Ortiz revolving around the way she has raised money for her campaign. Even more concerning is a lawsuit filed against Ortiz by a former student seeking to hold her accountable for a sexual assault committed by a person alleged to have been a campaign worker employed by an astroturf organization said to be run by Ortiz. In a statement provided to me, the candidate denied responsibility for the attack, which occurred at gunpoint. She also refers to it as an "unfortunate occurrence".
Ortiz did not answer any of the 25 questions for the LAUSD Candidate Forum series, making it difficult to assess where she stands on important issues facing the District. I would take a hard pass on this candidate.
Victorio R. Gutierrez
Gutierrez also did not participate in the LAUSD Candidate Forum series making it impossible to compare his positions to his competitors. An LAUSD teacher, dean, and principal, he has knowledge about how the District works and where its failings are, but what are his plans? His terse website gives some ideas of the subjects that he would tackle ("empower others in the community", "protect and advocate for at-risk students"), but lacks specifics for how he would get results. I do wish that more candidates would follow his lead of advocating for "more opportunities to learn vocational skills and qualify for jobs that meet their needs and are fulfilling".
While I admire anyone who makes the sacrifice of running for office, there is not enough meat on the bones for his candidacy. He is intriguing, but I cannot support him.
Fidencio Joel Gallardo
As Jackie Goldberg's Education Innovation Deputy, Gallardo is the candidate most capable of maintaining continuity through the transition. He has 27 years of experience as a classroom teacher and has been an adjunct professor of education at Cal State L.A. (CSULA) for 23 years. He is also mayor of the City of Bell, giving him the legislative experience that would help him to hit the ground running.
Gallardo's answers to the questions about Special Education for the LAUSD Candidate Forum series were thoughtful and showed his breadth of knowledge about the issue. His insistence that "Special Education services must be tailored to the needs of individual students" and that "we must move away from the District's 'one size fits all' approach" was particularly encouraging.
Unfortunately, those were the only answers received from Gallardo. I really would have liked to have seen what his approach would be to other issues facing the district.
While Gallardo's lack of responses prevents me from endorsing him, I would like to see him advance to the general election if a runoff is required. A face-off between him and Karla Griego would be particularly interesting as it would allow the path forward for public education to be debated with two candidates who care about its future.
Karla Griego
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